Dual Credit History Exam II

James Madison

"Father of the Constitution," Federalist leader, and fourth President of the United States. Madison wrote the Bill of Rights. Worked with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton to write the Federalist Papers.

Boston Tea Party

(150-161 "Indians") board three East India Company ships in Boston Harbor and dump 45-68 tons of tea (over $1-$4 million dollars-worth today) into Boston Harbor to keep it from being unloaded or sold. The colonists, led by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty, only took this action after the royal governor threatened to use British soldiers to unload the ships and bring the tea ashore. The colonists were organized in military fashion and disguised themselves fearing that British guards on the ships might recognize them. Different sources have claimed destruction of different amounts of tea with the lower limit being somewhere around 45 tons. This act of violence will result in a direct and immediate response from King George III and his ministers.

Toussaint Charbonneau

A French Canadian explorer and trader, and a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He was married to Sacajawea.

Sacajawea

A Shoshone Indian woman whose language skills and knowledge of geography helped Lewis and Clark on their expedition.

Northwest Ordinance 1785

A base reference point was assigned along the Ohio River from which east-west running base lines and north-south running principle meridians were surveyed 6 miles apart creating 36 square mile blocks called townships. Within each township 36 individual 640 acre sections were surveyed and numbered for sale. Section 16 was reserved for the support of a public school and sections 8, 11, 26, and 29 were reserved for future government use. All land was to be sold by section through sealed bids to a land office set up in New York (where the national government was situated at the time) at a minimum bid of at least $1.00 an acre in gold or silver. A farmer had to have at least $640.00 in hard just to bid! Did not sell basically any land.

Daniel Shay

A former captain named Daniel Shay was one of the farmers in Massachusetts to be foreclosed upon, his land to be sold at public auction to pay his debts. Shay did not plan to lose his farm without a fight and called his friends together starting Shay's Rebellion of 1786-1787. Shay's followers intimidated local courts, stopped foreclosure auctions at gunpoint, and eventually marched to capture a federal arsenal at Springfield to arm for a battle against the state. Massachusetts begged for help from the Articles of Confederation which was so broke it could not put an army in the field leaving Massachusetts to float a loan and hire 4,000 mercenaries to defeat Daniel Shay! Shay's army was defeated before they could capture the arsenal and he fled to Vermont until things cooled down while several other ringleaders of his rebellion were executed. Shay was eventually pardoned and lived out the rest of his life in New York.

David Crocket

A frontier hero, Tennessee Congressman, and teller of tall tales who died in the Texas War for Independence

James Tallmadge

A northern representative from New York named James Tallmadge opened the fireworks with the proposed Tallmadge Amendment to the Missouri petition for statehood. His amendment gave the south and Missouri what they wanted but then took it away over time, it worked like this: 1. Missouri would be allowed to enter as a slave state. 2. No new slaves would be allowed into Missouri after statehood was granted. 3. The children of the current slaves in Missouri would be freed on their 25th birthday. It passed in the House but failed in the Senate where the south still had an equal vote.

William Clark

A skilled mapmaker and outdoorsman chosen to explore the Louisiana Territory

John Neville

A tax collector whose house was burned down in the Whiskey Rebellion

Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was one of the leading Democratic-Republicans of New york, and served as a U.S. Senator from New York from 1791-1797. He was the principal opponent of Alexander Hamilton's Federalist policies. In the election of 1800, Burr tied with Jefferson in the Electoral College. The House of Representatives awarded the Presidency to Jefferson and made Burr Vice- President. Killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Robert Ross

About the same time the Creek War was winding down after Horseshoe Bend, the British started using their naval superiority by landing large raiding parties up and down Chesapeake Bay along the east coast. These raids were the coordinated efforts of General Robert Ross and Admiral Alexander Cochrane. Ross landed a large force of 4,000 during August 1814 that seemed poised to strike Baltimore, Maryland. In a surprise move the British veered inland away from Baltimore and the coast and marched on Washington DC instead. Taken off guard, Madison tried to hastily rally troops and attempted to block Ross at Bladensburg, Maryland on August 24, 1414. The Secretary of War, John Armstrong, had done little to prepare Washington's defenses thinking the British would not dare make such a bold move. The Americans led by General Winder were routed in less than 15 minutes and fell back upon Washington in what came to be known as the Bladensburg Races. Ross urging his men on saw almost as many of them die of heatstroke as from battle wounds and entered the outskirts of Washington at dusk as Madison and almost everyone else fled the city. Dolly Madison remained behind long enough to save a historic picture of George Washington, the silverware, and whatever else she could grab. Ross and his officers set down to a dinner that had been set out for Madison and his cabinet and gave a toast to Jimmy's health before torching the White House. The British subsequently burned down the government buildings and then withdrew back from whence they came. The fires could be seen for over 50 miles, a national disgrace for many.

Era of Good Feelings

America was back to a single political party; the Federalists would never field another national candidate although they held on for several more years in local New England elections. Because of this, the administration of James Monroe corresponds to what has come to be called "the era of good feelings" in American history. We were back to a single major political party, everyone was on the same page so to speak, or were they? Just under the calm political surface, three major sectional issues were lining up to tear the country apart and rekindle the two-party system in 1824. These issues were: 1. The protective tariff (northern industrialist liked it, southern planters not so much). 2. Slavery (a time-honored institution in the south, was rapidly dying out in the north and west). 3. Internal improvements (western farmers and eastern industrialists were desperate to get their crops to market, natural resources to their industries, and finished products to the consumer).

John Marshall

American jurist and politician who served as the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1801-1835) and helped establish the practice of judicial review.

Oliver H. Perry

An American naval captain named Oliver H. Perry, blockaded by the much larger British navy in New York harbor, believed he had the answer. Take the guns off his ship, which had run aground at the beginning of the conflict and transfer them along with his crew and any other volunteers he could round up to Lake Erie. Build a small fleet and take control away from the British who already controlled the lake. Control the lake, control the supply lines, and as fate would have it, Lake Erie controlled the supply lines to both Detroit and Dearborn. The British under the command Robert H. Barclay realized this as well and attacked Perry's small fleet at Put-in-Bay on 09/10/1813. The British had the advantage of the wind and quickly concentrated their fire on the USS Lawrence (Perry's flag ship) literally reducing it to a sinking pile of smoking rubble. Barclay asked Perry to surrender only to see the American commander board a small boat and row to his next nearest ship the USS Niagara from which he continued to direct the fight. The remaining American ships followed Perry into line and slugged it out until it was Barclay that surrendered having lost 135 men to Perry's 123 during the battle which is sometimes called the Battle of Lake Erie. This gave America control of the supply lines to the lakes above Lake Erie including Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior. The British in the Northwest (Dearborn/Detroit) retreated across the Detroit River (which connects Lake Huron with Lake Erie) into Canada and raced to reestablish their supply lines along the northern side of Lake Ontario. The tide had turned in the Northwest as Perry now began ferrying William Henry Harrison's army across Lake Erie to cut off General Proctor's retreat.

Boston Massacre

Angry at the continued duty on tea and spurred on by leaders of the Sons of Liberty, a mob of dock workers verbally and physically attacked an 8-man British patrol guarding the Customs House on King Street in Boston. The Customs House was where the Townshend Duty on imported tea was collected. Five Americans were killed - styled as "The Bloody Massacre" by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, the Sons of Liberty version of the story raced across the colonies further inflaming passions.

Zebulon M. Pike

Another early explorer of the Louisiana Purchase was Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike. The military governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory, General James Wilkinson, sent him to find the headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1805. Pike left St Louis with a small party and headed north up the river until he reached Leech Lake in Minnesota, which he believed to be the source of the Mississippi. He then returned to St Louis with some additional knowledge about the Indians and British fur posts in the area. Upon his return to St Louis he learned that General Wilkinson wanted him to lead another expedition to map the Arkansas River and then to find the headwaters of the Red River and follow it back to the Mississippi. Captain Pike left St Louis on July 15, 1806, taking Wilkinson's son along as one of his lieutenants. By November they had reached the headwaters of the Arkansas and tried to climb Pikes Peak in the front range of the Rockies but waist deep snow stopped them less than half way up. Pike then moved south looking for the Red River but ended up in Mexican territory along the Rio Grande where he was captured by a Spanish patrol on February 26, 1807. He was taken to Santa Fe for questioning but was later released by the Spanish on July 1, 1807. It is believed that General Wilkinson, who was in written contact with Aaron Burr at the time of the expedition, sent Pike to "spy" on the Spanish in the southwest as part of a plot to create an independent nation under Burr's control. We will speak more about the Burr conspiracies a little later in the course.

Impressment

British practice of taking American sailors and forcing them into military service

Yorktown

By September 1781 Cornwallis had reached Yorktown, Virginia and began to fortify it awaiting Clinton's decision to resupply or pull him out by sea. Fate was about to turn against Cornwallis and Clinton as back north at Newport Rhode Island General Rochambeau had arrived with 5,500 French soldiers to aid the American cause. Furthermore, Rochambeau brought news that Admiral De Grasse would soon arrive off the east coast with a fleet of 29 ships to coordinate with the Americans against the British. Washington, still smarting from his loss in 1776, contemplated an attack against New York but deferred to Knox and Rochambeau and decided on a coordinated attack against Yorktown instead. This time it was the Americans making feint moves towards New York to keep Clinton in check while the bulk of the French and American forces rushed south to rendezvous with De Grasse at Yorktown. Clinton finally discovered the ruse and sent a British fleet to relieve Cornwallis, but it was turned back by De Grasse in the Battle of the Virginia Capes (AKA Battle of the Chesapeake) during September 1781. Washington eventually brought up 18,000 American and French troops which Henry Knox and Rochambeau, who was an expert at siege warfare, carefully placed around Cornwallis' weakening defenses. Cornwallis had surrounded Yorktown with ten cannon redoubt fortifications. Like an anaconda squeezing its prey, the rebels overran or bombed them into submission until only two were left. On the night of 10/14/1781 the French were assigned to capture redoubt number 9 and the American's under Alexander Hamilton's command, redoubt number 10. Should they fall Cornwallis would be in a hopeless position. The Continentals did not even load their guns before the attack for fear of firing and giving away their position to the enemy; instead, they fixed bayonets and charged out into the night. Both forts fell. Cornwallis asked for terms on 10/17/1781 and formally surrendered unconditionally on 10/19/1781.

Charles Cornwallis

Charles Cornwallis with over 8,000 men into New Jersey to stop Washington's winter forays. Cornwallis was rapidly approaching Washington's force near Trenton before he was discovered on the move near the American camp. The Americans skirmished with the advanced guard of Cornwallis on the evening of January 1, 7777 but darkness prevented a full British attack leaving Cornwallis to report "the fox is in the bag". Cornwallis led his men against Washington's positions on 01/02/1777 only to find an abandoned camp. Washington's men had extricated themselves by a forced night march through a frozen marsh to escape the British and were moving on Cornwallis' rear guard at Princeton. Washington personally led the charge which broke the British resistance at Princeton on 01/03/1777. His supplies captured, Cornwallis was compelled to withdraw back towards New York leaving Washington's men, who moved into winter camp at Morristown, in control of New Jersey. The general who was forced to surrender at The Battle of Yorktown in 1871

Townshend Duties

Charles Townshend steps in to reignite the fire over taxation with his "external" duties on paint, paper, glass, tea, and lead resulting in a return to boycott by the colonists and eventual repeal of the duties except for the one on Tea by 1770. American patriot John Dickinson was one of the primary agitators against Townshend's Duties. British merchants, their revenues declining under the mounting American boycott, convinced Parliament to repeal all of the duties except for the one on tea as a symbol of Parliament's right to tax the colonies, drawing a line in the sand that was crossed three years later at the Boston Massacre.

Indian Removal Act

Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws, and Seminoles inhabited prime cotton lands east of the Mississippi. They were called the "five civilized tribes" due to their proximity to and in many cases acceptance of white culture. Georgia, among the southern states, was especially keen on pushing out the remaining Creeks and Cherokees so that white plantation owners could claim the lands that they Indians had already cleared and planted. Other tribes like the Sauk and Fox were also included in the bill but the main emphasis was on the Five Civilized Tribes. Under constant pressure by the state's legislature, the Cherokees tried to fend off removal by assimilating into the surrounding plantation culture of South Carolina and Georgia. Led by Chief John Ross the Cherokee adopted a written constitution in 1827 (modeled on the US Constitution) and led by Sequoia, who created an alphabet for the tribe, published the Cherokee Phoenix. Many, including John Ross, became slave owners with sizeable plantations. The Cherokees also invited missionaries onto "their" lands and eagerly sought conversion to Christianity. They were doing everything possible, including sending their children to schools where English was spoken to fit in with the surrounding white society. Other tribes like the Seminoles in Florida under Chief Osceola continued to fight removal through military resistance. Andrew Jackson entered the White House just as Georgia was overturning the Cherokee Constitution of 1827 and declaring Cherokee laws null and void within the state's borders. New state regulations were passed that required missionaries and other "white friends of the Indians" to purchase licenses from the state before they could enter or preach on Cherokee land. Violators were fined, prosecuted, and sent to jail. Jackson basically supported Georgia's stance even though Cherokee warriors had fought by his side at Horseshoe Bend and he openly supported the Indian Removal Bill in 1830. The removal bill offered to "pay" eastern Indians fairly for their land and then promised to supply, feed, and escort them to new lands west of the Mississippi (basically Oklahoma) where they would be far away from greedy white land grabbers. Oklahoma (Choctaw for "Red Man's Land") would be a sanctuary, protected by the might of the federal government, and the only white men allowed within its borders would need special federal permits. The Cherokees, having already signed a series of similar broken land purchase agreements and treaties, were in no mood to fall for this ploy again. John Ross knew that they would not be fairly compensated for the lands that they had cleared and planted, no matter what the white man's words on the Removal Bill promised. The Cherokees, led by Ross, fought back not with guns but by suing Georgia in the Federal Courts. Ironically, Indians were not considered citizens and could not legally initiate suit of this type. They had one of the American missionaries who had been fined, arrested, and thrown in jail by the name of Samuel Worcester initiate the suit in their behalf. Worcester was also the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix. In 1832 the suit reached the Supreme Court as Worcester verses Georgia in which Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in the Cherokees favor and stated that Georgia had no authority over Cherokee land. Basically Marshall ruled that the Indians were "a domestic dependent nation" of the federal government, and that states like Georgia had no right to pass laws over them; only valid federal treaties signed by the federal government held any validity over their destiny. The Cherokees had numerous prior federal treaties promising the sanctity of their land in Georgia. Both President Jackson and Georgia ignored the court's decision and continued pressuring the Cherokees to abandon their land. It is rumored that when Jackson heard the Marshall decision, he stated "John Marshall has made its decision, now let him enforce it". With Jackson's tacit approval, Georgia authorities pushed an earlier fraudulent removal treaty and went so far as to kidnap John Ross to remove his opposition to that removal order. In 1838, the Cherokees having exhausted every legal challenge they could muster, were herded like cattle by the army under orders from President Van Burn and marched down the "Trail of Tears" to Oklahoma. Around 4,000 of the 15,000 died along the way including John Ross' wife. As suspected, they received neither the promised "fair price" for their lands or the promised "adequate help" by the federal government to reach their destination, many starved or froze to death along the way. Oklahoma, by the way, was already the home of the Kiowa and Comanche among others, who were far from happy to see thousands of eastern agricultural Indians dumped on their buffalo hunting grounds. The Sauk and Fox and the Seminoles fought and lost or went into hiding. The Sauk and Fox were still in the old Northwest when their chief, Black Hawk, was defeated in 1832. Osceola, Chief of the Seminoles led a more determined resistance in Florida until his death in the 1840's.

Fort Washington

Constantly outmaneuvered by Howe, Washington's army just managed to retreat to the next defensive position again and again until the defeat at Fort Washington on the Hudson River. All of the army's supplies, food, spare ammunition, and artillery were stored at Fort Washington and when a Hessian attack overran it over 3,000 American prisoners were taken. Washington had been pushed out of New York entirely and now fled across New Jersey with the British snapping at his heals.

Banastre Tarleton

Cornwallis then sent Banastre Tarleton in pursuit of the few rebel troops that had escaped from the siege of Charleston. Tarleton caught up with them at Waxhaws on 05/29/1780 and cut many of them down after they formerly surrendered leading to his nick name "Bloody Ban "at the battle that came to be known as the "Waxhaws Massacre"! Cornwallis had dispatched 1,300 cavalry and mounted infantry under Banastre Tarleton to run him down. Outpaced by Tarleton, Morgan picked his ground carefully at a spot called Hannah's Cowpens. On 01/17/1781 he put his plan in action and placed his militia out front as bait for a well laid trap. Tarleton's forces easily pushed them back and then lost their formation in headlong pursuit which placed them right in front of Morgan's sharpshooters and Continentals. A volley tore into the oncoming redcoats followed up by a Von Steuben inspired bayonet charge. Panic took hold and Tarleton found himself in headlong retreat having lost over 900 to Morgan's 12! Only 15 of "Tarleton's Legion" escaped the trap to report the loss to Cornwallis.

Daniel Morgan

Daniel Morgan and his snipers slowed down John Burgoyne which led to the American victory at Saratoga. Thirteen weeks after the Battle of King's Mountain Daniel Morgan's force moved boldly into South Carolina only to find that Cornwallis had dispatched 1,300 cavalry and mounted infantry under Banastre Tarleton to run him down. Outpaced by Tarleton, Morgan picked his ground carefully at a spot called Hannah's Cowpens. On 01/17/1781 he put his plan in action and placed his militia out front as bait for a well laid trap. Tarleton's forces easily pushed them back and then lost their formation in headlong pursuit which placed them right in front of Morgan's sharpshooters and Continentals. A volley tore into the oncoming redcoats followed up by a Von Steuben inspired bayonet charge. Panic took hold and Tarleton found himself in headlong retreat having lost over 900 to Morgan's 12! Only 15 of "Tarleton's Legion" escaped the trap to report the loss to Cornwallis.

Embargo 1807

Declaration by President Thomas Jefferson that banned all American trade with Europe. As a result of the war between England and Napoleon's France, America's sea rights as a neutral power were threatened; Jefferson hoped the embargo would force England and France to respect American neutrality. All the Embargo of 1807 really accomplished was to worsen an economic depression that had been fostered by the interdiction of our trade in the first place.

Whiskey Rebellion

Farmers west of the Appalachians had become accustomed to converting their corn and other grain into whiskey and then trading or selling it east of the mountains. Roads were simply too bad or non-existent for hauling bulky crops that far. They viewed the 'whiskey tax' as a direct tax on their livelihood and started the Whiskey Rebellion. Neville's home was besieged and burned down by a crowd of over 400 angry farmers and other collectors were threatened and shot at. Washington decided that it was time to show the strength of the new national government and personally led over 13,000 troops (Hamilton was along as a civilian adviser) into Western Pennsylvania. The 'Rebellion' petered out in the face of such force. Two suspected ringleaders were arrested and tried for treason only to be later pardoned by the President.

Alexander Hamilton

First Secretary of The Treasury. Federalist. Alexander Hamilton had called for a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government to meet at Annapolis, Maryland during 1786. This meeting was directed at correcting the many commercial problems caused by state rivalries which were destroying the commerce of the United States. Only 12 delegates from 5 states bothered to answer the call and Shay's ongoing Rebellion quickly became the major point of discussion before Hamilton decided to call for a broader Constitutional Convention to meet at Philadelphia in May of 1787. James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton released 85 essays in local papers that came to be called the Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers defendended the Constitution and promised a Bill of Rights. With Hamilton's urging, a tariff on foreign imports and a tonnage duty on foreign shipping were enacted quickly to start generating some revenue for the new government. Washington called on Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury to work on pressing tasks including securing a sound economic foundation for the country. Alexander Hamilton led the Federalist faction who supported a strong central government and implied powers (took a broad view of the Constitution). John Adams and George Washington generally supported Hamilton's position. Alexander Hamilton had prepared and delivered his Report on Public Credit before Congress. Hamilton's suggestions for establishing a sound financial basis for the country were divided into three basic parts: 1. Full assumption of the foreign and domestic debt. 2. The creation of a Bank of the United States 3. Additional excise taxes to provide needed revenue. Hamilton finished out his recovery program by recommending a series of new excise taxes on whiskey (distilled spirits) and tobacco (snuff).

Fort McHenry

Fort in Baltimore Harbor unsuccessfully bombarded by the British in September 1814; Francis Scott Key, a witness to the battle, was moved to write the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key watched the bombardment from a British ship he had boarded earlier to work out a prisoner exchange. He jotted down a poem called 'The Defense of Fort McHenry' under the rockets red glare which was later paired with an old British drinking song (An Anacreon in Heaven) to become the Star Spangled Banner.

John Burgoyne

General John Burgoyne moving from St John's Canada down Lake Champlain and the Hudson River towards Albany, New York. Burgoyne planned to capture the Hudson splitting New England in two and capturing Washington's supply lines. Washington had to split his forces, sending 500 snipers under Daniel Morgan to aid the militia forces in New York against the threat on Albany from Burgoyne. Meanwhile Burgoyne was slowed by terrain, his own baggage, and Daniel Morgan's snipers, who killed off all of his Indian scouts and then started picking off his officers. This allowed local militia units under the overall command of Horatio Gates to block his forward progress in several battles at Freeman's Farm, Bemis Heights, and Saratoga. He surrendered what was left of his army at Saratoga on 10/17/1777, a surrender which brought French recognition and assistance on 02/06/1778! We were no longer fighting alone.

Sugar Act

George Grenville's initial attempt to pull revenue from the colonies by replacing the Molasses Act with a lower import tax which he intended to enforce to raise revenue. The Molasses Act was an earlier attempt passed in 1733 to regulate colonial commerce by taxing items containing sugar at a rate double that of the Sugar Act. Most merchants had managed to evade the Molasses Act by smuggling. Greenville assumed that American merchants would pay the lower Sugar Act tax rather than risk getting caught. He was wrong!

Coercive Acts

George III and Lord North's plan to bring the colonies back into line and under control by punishing Massachusetts with the following acts: Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act of 1774. The Boston Port Act closes the Port of Boston until those responsible for the Tea Party surrender and the tea is paid for. The Massachusetts Government Act suspends the civil government and places General Thomas Gage in control under martial law. The Administration of Justice Act, which George Washington referred to as the murder act, states that any royal official or soldier charged with crimes in America will face British, not American courts. The Quartering Act of 1774 allows General Gage to house British soldiers in private homes. Before 1774, soldiers could only be housed in public buildings under earlier British quartering acts.

Stamp Act

Grenville's second attempt to pull revenue from the colonies by taxing all paper documents, playing cards, and dice.

Henry Knox

Henry Knox said he had the solution and volunteered to travel over 300 miles to Fort Ticonderoga in the dead of winter to drag 59 artillery pieces to Boston, Between February-March 1776, Knox and his volunteers trudged across snow drifts and frozen rivers arriving around Boston on March 4, 1776. First Secretary of War.

Monroe Doctrine

In December of 1823 President Monroe announced the Monroe Doctrine. "The United States would no longer tolerate any further European expansion in our hemisphere nor would we tolerate the attempted extension of monarchial forms of government..." In return we promised to stay out of European affairs and to take no action toward their existing colonial possessions. Portugal and Spain had lost most of their former new world possessions to independence movements by this time (although Cuba and Puerto Rico still belonged to Spain) and Monroe with British support was trying to prevent any further European attempts at re-conquest which might upset both countries economic interests in the Caribbean. Mostly a bluff at the time, its other motive was to give the United States time to settle the Louisiana Purchase, Oregon, and Florida. This brings us to the election that officially shattered the "era of good feelings" and returned America to the two-party political system with a vengeance.

Electoral College

In a move that still confuses Americans today, the founding fathers created a system of indirect popular election through the creation of the Electoral College. Each state has the same number of electors in the college as it has Congressmen (House and Senate combined). Originally, the individual electors were appointed by the state legislatures or 'otherwise appointed'. Once the general election is over, the electors, however chosen, meet and cast their ballots (generally on the winner by state takes all rule today) and the candidate with the majority of the electoral votes becomes President and the candidate with the second highest number of electoral votes becomes Vice President. In a case where no single presidential candidate received a majority of the states' electoral votes, Congress will hold a special election in the House of Representatives to determine the winner. Only the three front runners by electoral vote are eligible for this special election, where each state cast one vote, and the candidate with a majority of the state votes becomes President and the candidate with the second highest becomes Vice President.

USS Constitution

Interesting Fact: The USS Constitution is the oldest actively commissioned warship in the US Navy and is still afloat in Boston harbor. Commissioned in 1797, this 17 gun frigate last put to sea in 2012 and is sometimes referred to as "Old Iron Sides".

Issac Brock

Issac Brock, the British general in charge of Canada's defense, had a double barreled surprise for the Americans, he had more and better armed troops than the invaders and he had just signed an alliance with Tecumseh who hurried 4,000 additional warriors into the field. On July 12, 1812, the American 'army' left Detroit and marched into Canada under William Hull's direction only to be soundly defeated and sent helter-skelter from whence they came. Then Tecumseh's warriors along with a few British regulars under Brock 'surrounded Detroit forcing Hull's surrender. Tecumseh's Indians raced on ahead to Fort Dearborn (Chicago) and captured it as well. 'On to Canada' had turned into a retreat on all fronts back towards the Ohio River. The only bright spot, if you could call it that, was that Brock was killed in another battle around Niagara during October 1812 and was replaced by a more defensive minded general named Henry Proctor. Meanwhile more loss of 'American' territory occurred when HMS Racoon appeared at Fort Astoria, Oregon (a second fort built by the mountain men in 1811 where Fort Clatsop had originally stood) demanding their surrender. Outgunned, they put up a white flag and started walking back to St Louis and Fort Astoria became Fort George under British control for the rest of the war. And just to add insult to injury, a large faction of the Creeks called the Red Stick Faction, who Tecumseh had been trying to recruit back in 1811, decided to start their own little war in Alabama and Georgia called the Creek War. They stormed Fort Mims along the Alabama River during August 1813 and massacred over 500 settlers and peaceful Creeks who had sought protection there. This spread panic across the South.

Nullification Ordinance

Jackson won by over 217,000 popular votes, a public mandate for sure, but before he could focus on the Bank, John C. Calhoun called for a Nullification Convention to meet in Columbia South Carolina during November 1832 which then proceeded to nullify both the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 asserting that those obnoxious tariffs would not be collected in South Carolina after February 1, 1833! Furthermore, should Jackson's government attempt to collect them, South Carolina should secede from the union! Jackson proclaimed "disunion by armed force is treason" and sent an open letter to the nullifiers which in part read: "Tell the nullifiers from me that they can talk and write resolutions and print threats to their hearts content....but if one drop of blood is shed here in defiance of the laws of the United States, I will hang he first man of them I can get my hands on to the first tree I can find". Everyone including Calhoun knew who that first man would be. Jackson surrounded South Carolina with federal troops and blockaded Charleston harbor awaiting Calhoun's next move. Calhoun, with few supporting his stand outside of South Carolina, postponed the February 1, 1833 deadline awaiting the result of Congressional debates on a Compromise Tariff of 1833. A gradual ten-year reduction in tariff rates was approved on March 2, 1833 along with a Force Bill which authorized Jackson to use federal troops to uphold federal laws within the states. Calhoun then reconvened the nullification convention, withdrew the nullification ordinance and nullified the Force Act as a symbolic gesture of defiance.

Meriwether Lewis

Jefferson had secretly planned to explore Louisiana prior to the Purchase and had been seeking funds from Congress to do so. Now he had a green light and appointed his private secretary Meriwether Lewis (who was also an army captain) to head up an exploratory party. Lewis, who had meteorological and botanical training, recruited William Clark, who had wilderness, Indian fighting, and map making abilities to assist with the expedition. They had worked together earlier in the Ohio country and trusted each others abilities. Both brought something additional to the expedition, Clark brought his personal servant named York and Lewis brought his Newfoundland dog named Seaman along.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Jefferson had secretly planned to explore Louisiana prior to the Purchase and had been seeking funds from Congress to do so. Now he had a green light and appointed his private secretary Meriwether Lewis (who was also an army captain) to head up an exploratory party. Lewis, who had meteorological and botanical training, recruited William Clark, who had wilderness, Indian fighting, and map making abilities to assist with the expedition. They had worked together earlier in the Ohio country and trusted each others abilities. Both brought something additional to the expedition, Clark brought his personal servant named York and Lewis brought his Newfoundland dog named Seaman along. Both York and Seaman, who may have weighed over 140 pounds, proved essential to the eventual success of the explorers endeavors. Most Indians west of the Mississippi had never seen a black man before, believing York had tattooed his entire body black as a sign of bravery. Indians had domesticated dogs, which also served as food sources during lean times, but they had never seen a dog the size of Seaman. When York and Seaman jumped off the boats along the Missouri, Snake, and Columbia Rivers the Indians were often over awed. Lewis and Clark gathered a rough and tumble assortment of 48 soldiers and frontiersmen (The Corps of Discovery) to round out their party and prepared to carry out their orders to ascend the Missouri from St Louis to the 'Stony Mountains and (secretly, since they would be beyond the Purchase), then to continue across the mountains all the way to the Pacific and back. They departed St Louis during May of 1804 and did not return until September 1806. The first spring and summer they rowed, poled, dragged, pulled, and sailed their boats against the current of the great Missouri while making observations, mapping the river and its tributaries, studying flora and fauna, and contacting as many Indian tribes as possible. Jefferson had ordered them to inform Indian tribes that they were now part of the great United States and that their new "Father" was President Jefferson. French, Spanish and even a few intrepid American trappers had been this far west trading for furs with the tribes so they had a good idea of what to expect until one day they heard what sounded like distant thunder. Lewis and Clark were the first Americans to witness the massive buffalo herds of the Great Plains. They stood in awe as a single herd, probably numbering over a million, crossed before them. They lost one man on August 20, 1804, when Sergeant Charles Floyd passed away from a ruptured appendix or some similar ailment. York, who was also an expert in herbal remedies, "cured" most of the corps maladies and minor injuries, but could do nothing for Floyd. Sergeant Floyd was the only loss during the entire expedition. By November the expedition had reached the Mandan Villages in present day North Dakota where they decided to remain for the winter, building Fort Mandan just outside of the tribe's largest village. As far as they knew they had now gone further west than any prior American frontiersman, although a few French and Spanish trappers had been this far west and some had even stayed with the Mandan before their arrival. A French trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau was trading and living with the Mandan when they arrived. Charbonneau had two young Shoshone wives, one named Sacajawea was obviously pregnant, the other was named Otter Woman. Lewis and Clark wished to retain Sacajawea as an interpreter and guide and got Charbonneau in the bargain. The Shoshone lived in the front range of the "Stony" (Rocky Mountains) and they had learned from the Mandan that they would need to trade with the Shoshone for horses to cross the mountains. A fluent interpreter would be an asset. In the spring of 1805, shortly after Sacajawea gave birth to a baby boy, they departed Fort Mandan upstream into the unknown. Sacajawea provided valuable services by locating edible plants and by saving some of their most valuable scientific equipment and journals when one of the boats tipped over. Sacajawea and York exchanged medical lore as the expedition continued west, York becoming the student to the young Shoshone who knew the native plants better than he did. Eventually they reached the headwaters of the Missouri which they named the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin. They then followed the Jefferson into the front range of the Rocky Mountains where Sacajawea attempted to contact the Shoshone. Unable to locate a village, Lewis took off overland while Clark continued to pull their canoes up what was left of the river also looking for the Shoshone. Lewis discovered the true source of the Missouri and determined that they were in big trouble when he saw mountain range after mountain range before them. Without horses from the Shoshone they probably could not go much farther. A few days later Lewis located some Shoshone hunters and led them to a meeting with Clark where Sacajawea began to interpret their need for horses. She stopped in mid-sentence and exclaimed in joy when she recognized who she was speaking to, 'you are my brother' Cameahwait. He was now the chief of the Wind River Shoshone Tribe. They would have their horses as well as a Shoshone guide and sub-chief named Old Toby (Swooping Eagle) to lead them across the Rockies. Toby pointed the way across passes to the headwaters of the Snake River where Lewis and Clark were introduced to the Nez Perce and Flathead Indians. Sacajawea again provided invaluable services by locating food sources in the mountains. They built dug-out canoes while staying with the Nez Perce before continuing down the Snake to the Columbia River. They were the first American's to see Mount Hood (an active volcano 11,239 feet high), in present day Oregon on the way down the Columbia to the coast. They finally reached the Pacific on November 15, 1805 and prepared to spend a second miserable winter away from home at Fort Clatsop (now Astoria) on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. It rained all but a few days of their stay. The trip back beginning in March 1806 only took 6 months as they could now retrace Clark's maps. Lewis had a minor battle with Blackfeet Indians in present day Montana during July when 8 warriors tried to steal some of his guns and horses after camping with him. Lewis had informed them that the Nez Perce and Shoshone had signed a treaty with the United States before the trouble began. The Blackfeet were traditional enemies of both the Nez Perce and Shoshone and feared America would arm their enemies with guns against the Blackfeet. Two Blackfeet were killed in the encounter, after which the Blackfeet basically declared war on America. Otherwise the trip was a monumental success as they covered 8,000 miles over a 28 month period. Lewis collected 178 unknown plants and cataloged 122 animals previously unknown in America and Clark drew the maps that would guide the next Americans westward in the early 1800's (the Mountain Men). Lewis and Clark released their journals less than a year after their return which invited a new generation of explorers west to exploit the beaver and otter they had seen and documented along the way. Clark went on to become the governor of the Missouri Territory; he named his first son Meriwether Lewis Clark. Lewis was named governor of the Louisiana Territory, but fell into a state of depression after some bad business deals. It is thought that he committed suicide less than a year after their epic journey. Sacajawea is thought to have died at the Mandan village around 1813. Her son, John Baptist Charbonneau, moved east, was educated by Clark, and became a mountain man and explorer of some fame.

Charles Talleyrand

Jefferson quickly dispatched James Monroe and Robert Livingston to negotiate with Charles Talleyrand (Same as in the XYZ Affair) for the purchase of New Orleans for as high a price as 15 million dollars. For Jefferson, who was one of our most frugal presidents to consider a sum of $15 million for a single city showed just how desperate he was. Of course Jefferson knew that he who controls the mouth of a river controls the trade of a river. Napoleon, with too many irons in the fire in Europe, countered with an offer to sell all of Louisiana for $15 million and the shocked Americans accepted the deal of the century. They were not even sure what they had bought, Talleyrand told them the purchase was from the source of the Mississippi (which no American had seen) to the Gulf of Mexico and as far to the west as the most westward flowing river that fed the Mississippi (basically the Rocky Mountains)! This purchase doubled the size of the United States for pennies an acre.

Macon's Bill #2

Macon's Bill #2 in May of 1810. Believe it or not, Macon's Bill restored trade with both Britain and France but included a clause which stated, in effect, that we would only trade with whichever of those two powers first agreed to uphold our neutral rights on the high seas and then we would cut off all trade with the other. Napoleon seeing a way to harm Britain with little damage to himself said "Qui Qui - I agree" and we were forced to suspend all trade with England. England in return seized more American ships and impressed more American sailors. Our navy was miniscule compared to England's, so a military option was not considered feasible. Pirates were one thing, and our navy was still actively blockading them in North Africa, but Madison dare not challenge the might of the Royal Navy. And the interdiction of our trade was not our only problem with England starting in 1810!

New Jersey Plan

Many delegates feared that the national structure proposed by Madison and Randolph would usurp the powers of the states making them totally subservient. These men later came to be called anti-federalist and one of their leaders, William Patterson, of New Jersey made a counterproposal called the New Jersey Plan of Union which called for: 1. Keep the current unicameral congress. 2. Keep the one-state one-vote procedure of the Articles 3. Create an executive branch with less power than Virginia proposed. 4. Make some allowance for federal taxation and regulation of commerce. Patterson's (Small State) plan attempted to level the playing field by maintaining the one-state one-vote of the Articles with minor structural modifications to the government itself.

Margaret Peggy Eaton

Margaret Peggy Eaton had what was considered a checkered past, as far as the other members of the cabinet's wives and polite Washington society were concerned. Before she married John Eaton, who became one of Jackson's Secretaries of War, she had been a tavern maid in a local bar. She married a sailor who was often a sea and rumor had it that she had numerous affairs, including one with the much older Eaton. After her first husband died, she married John Eaton leading to yet another round of scandalous rumors. The chief rumor monger turned out to be none other than John C. Calhoun's wife, who was considered the moral compass of Washington society. This became a major embarrassment for Jackson who finally accepted the resignations of John Eaton and Martin Van Buren (who became the next Vice President) and fired the remainder of the cabinet to stop the squabbling.

Horseshoe Bend

Meanwhile back South, Andrew Jackson had gathered 2,500 Tennessee volunteers including David Crocket and Sam Houston along with 600 friendly Cherokee and Lower Creek Indians (Peace Faction) and tried to chase down the Red Stick faction that had attacked Fort Mims. He finally cornered a large contingent of them at a fortified village at Horseshoe Bend along the Tallapoosa River on 03/27/1814 in present day Alabama. Jackson sent his Indian allies to cut off any escape routes across the river and led his volunteers against the fortified village. Sam Houston was one of the first over the wall receiving and arrow wound for his efforts. In a no holds barred melee the Creeks lost over 800 to Jackson's 50. About 200 Creeks managed to break through the surrounding Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and escaped toward Florida where they planned to join the Seminoles. Jackson then forced the chiefs he had captured in the battle to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson in which they surrendered 23 million acres of Alabama and Georgia to the United States. The South was now clear of hostile Indians except for the Creeks which had slipped away to safety in Spanish Florida.

Guilford Court House

On 03/15/1781 Greene baited Cornwallis into a major battle at Guilford Court House where he employed Morgan's militia to the front trick and drew Cornwallis into a bloody killing ground. The battle in doubt, Cornwallis ordered his artillery to fire into the melee killing as many of his men as Greene's. Greene who said, "we fight, get beat, rise, and fight again" broke off the engagement giving Cornwallis a "victory" in which he lost 25% of his fighting force. After Guilford Court House Cornwallis decided to move north and east towards the coastline of Virginia, he had seen enough fighting in the Carolinas. Meanwhile Greene's army attacked isolated British units and posts until the only thing left in British hands was Charlestown and Savannah (back where they started)!

Redoubt #10

On the night of 10/14/1781 the French were assigned to capture redoubt number 9 and the American's under Alexander Hamilton's command, redoubt number 10. Should they fall Cornwallis would be in a hopeless position. The Continentals did not even load their guns before the attack for fear of firing and giving away their position to the enemy; instead, they fixed bayonets and charged out into the night. Both forts fell. Cornwallis asked for terms on 10/17/1781 and formally surrendered unconditionally on 10/19/1781.

Marbury v. Madison

One of these Justices of the Peace was a man by the name of William Marbury. Others included Justices Holt, Ramsey, and Harper. None of them picked up their commissions before Jefferson and his Secretary of State James Madison took office on March 4, 1801. Jefferson, furious over Adams attempt to stack the judiciary against him, moved to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801 and ordered Madison not to release commissions to any judge who had failed to pick them up before he took office including Marbury, Holt, Ramsey, and Harper's. Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to force the release off his commission sparking the Supreme Court case of Marbury v Madison. The entire case hinged on Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 which appeared to give the Supreme Court jurisdiction in the case. Chief Justice John Marshall, one of Adams earlier appointments, however ruled that Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional as it clashed with a clause in the Constitution stating that the Supreme Court could only hear this type of case upon appeal from a lower court, setting up the principle of judicial review. Marshall's decision made Jefferson even madder, he still refused to surrender the commissions to Marbury and company,

Quasi War

Our navy under construction, Adams pressured Congress into the Quasi War with France between1798-1800. American privateers (basically legalized pirates) sized 80 French prizes in the Caribbean forcing Napoleon to back down by signing the Convention of 1800. During the Quasi War Adams also pressured congress to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts in order to protect the country from potential French spies and saboteurs and to insure 'patriotism' among the general population: Alien Act = Unwanted and dangerous aliens could be deported, imprisoned and/or fined or both (this was a pretty typical war time measure for an atypical war). Sedition Act = American citizens could be fined, imprisoned or both for "writing, printing, uttering, or publishing any statement which might bring Congress, the President, or the military into disrepute..."

Jay Treaty

Our trade in shambles, Washington sent John Jay to London to try and negotiate a treaty, end the seizure of our merchant vessels, and to stop the practice of kidnapping merchant seamen. England, feeling the effect of the Embargo and in need of American grain to feed its population, negotiated the Treaty of London (Jay's Treaty) which included the following terms: 1. Would reimburse American shippers for their physical losses. 2. Would reopen their Caribbean ports to American trade. 3. Would reopen their Asiatic ports to American trade. 4. Would evacuate their remaining Northwest posts by 1796. 5. Would create a commission to settle future border disputes. Treaty only passed by one vote.

Paul Revere

Paul Revere and other "midnight" riders were ready for just such a move. Revere, one of the founders of the Sons of Liberty, reached Lexington in time to warn John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other members of the shadow government to flee before he was captured by a British patrol.

Transcontinental Treaty

President Monroe ordered Andrew Jackson back into Florida in 1818 to punish the Seminoles and recapture run-away slaves from their depredations in Georgia and Alabama. Jackson proceeded to burn several Indian villages and then captured the Spanish settlements of Pensacola and St. Marks, executing two suspected British agents in the process. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams then pressured the Spanish (who were in the process of losing Mexico to an internal rebellion at the time) to either stop the Indians in Florida from raiding US territory; or surrender the territory to the United States. Spain agreed to cede the area for virtually no compensation except for liability claims of private American citizens in Georgia and Alabama that amounted to around 5 million dollars. We basically paid ourselves and the Spanish bowed out of the picture. Spain did get something in return for this gesture. In return for the cessation of Florida a new line was drawn across the Southwestern United States insuring Spain's control of Texas, New Mexico and California while dropping claims to the Oregon Country (Pacific Northwest) and clearly delineating the western limits of the Louisiana Purchase. We continued to have trouble with the Seminoles for years to come but gradually drove them into the Everglades where they were no longer a threat to the more settled southern states or northern Florida. Most students have heard of the Monroe Doctrine, that statement which announced American control of the western hemisphere to the rest of the world, and to be fair it was a bold move by Monroe. Its real purpose was to shield the young republic from prying eyes and to give us time to fully occupy the Louisiana Purchase, Oregon, and Florida. It was a bluff, pure and simple, but it worked.

Thames River

Proctor informed Tecumseh that the British would make a stand along the Thames River on 10/05/1813. Tecumseh led his warriors forward as Proctor and the British gave way sealing Tecumseh's and his alliances fate. He died trying to fend off Harrison's attack. The battle of Lake Erie followed up by the victory on the Thames put America back in charge of the Ohio country.

Fredrick Von Steuben

Prussian Captain Baron von Steuben volunteered to train Washington's emaciated forces in the art of war including close order drill and bayonet fighting. In doing so he wrote a manual of arms which is still used by the armed forces today (Blue Book) and instilled an esprit de corps and killer attitude in the troops.

Tecumseh

Shawnee Chief named Tecumseh and his brother, The Prophet, in an effort to evict American settlers from the entire Ohio valley and keeping the fur trade of the area for themselves. The truth was that Tecumseh was seeking an alliance with the British. Tecumseh had a vision of creating a permanent Indian state between the Ohio River, the Great Lakes, and the Upper Mississippi. Beginning around 1809 he and his brother began to create an alliance including Winnebego, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, Ottowa, Delaware, Mingo, Seneca, Wyandot, and Pottawatomie warriors who all agreed not to cede any more land to American settlers and to fight for what they still controlled. The Prophet built a huge village (Prophetstown, Indiana) which served as the religious center of the movement while Tecumseh worked to cement alliances with the tribes and England if he could pull it off. In 1811 he left The Prophet in temporary charge and ventured south into Alabama and Georgia to try and recruit the Creeks and Choctaws to join the confederacy. It just so happened that the military governor of Indiana territory, William Henry Harrison, picked just that moment to march on Prophetstown with an army of over 1,000 troops to destroy or disperse the confederated tribes. They approached Prophetstown on 11/06/1811 leaving the Prophet to either run or fight. Tecumseh had ordered him not to fight in his absence but his Indian allies demanded blood so the Prophet predicted a great Indian victory and proclaimed that Harrison's bullets would not harm the warriors. With visions of invulnerability in their heads they snuck up on Harrison's camp near Tippeacanoe Creek on 11/07/1811 and attacked near dawn. It was a close fight with Indians swarming in amongst Harrison's confused troops and inflicting more damage than Harrison's men inflicted on them. Alas, the Americans bullets did not turn to sand and as it became lighter the warriors realized they were taking significant losses. The Prophet's magic broken, they fell back to and then abandoned Prophetstown. Harrison then captured and burned down Prophetstown finding the smoking gun he had been looking for, crates of British supplies stacked around the Indian camp. He sent two wagonloads of proof of British interaction with the tribes to Washington DC where a group of congressmen called the War Hawks, including Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay, added their voices to a rising crescendo calling for war against Britain. Out of options, Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war on 06/01/1812, and out of patience Congress concurred and we officially declared War on England on 06/18/1812.

Nicholas Biddle

Shortly before Calhoun resigned another of Jackson's enemies, Henry Clay in league with Nicholas Biddle (Bank President), made the national bank an issue. Jackson distrusted banks and bankers in general but had taken no direct action against The Second Bank of the United States which was chartered as a business until 1836. No action that is until Clay and Biddle decided to make a political issue out of it just before the national elections in 1832. Clay with Biddle's support sponsored a re-chartering bill four years early, thinking they could pressure Jackson into signing it into law, and use his hatred towards banks against him in the upcoming election. Jackson, it was believed, would lose his temper and say evil things about Biddle and bankers in general before bowing to pressure and signing the bill giving Clay political ammunition for his upcoming campaign and Biddle could breathe easier knowing the bank was re-chartered. Instead of bending to pressure, Jackson vetoed the bill on July 4, 1832, and then called on the American people to vote him back into office against Clay, claiming his victory would be a public mandate to destroy the "monster bank" if re- elected. In Jackson's mind, the United States was not big enough for both Nicholas Biddle and his Bank, and President Jackson; one of them would have to go! In this battle Jackson viewed Nicholas Biddle as enemy number one and decided if he could not legally kill Biddle, he could kill his bank!

John Q. Adams

Son of John Adams (Federalist) and a supporter of nationalist policies including the creation of: 1. A naval academy 2. A national university to support arts and sciences 3. Internal Improvements (canals/highways) 4. National Observatory 5. Further western exploration None of these goals were supported in Congress by the party he represented and none of them were achieved. Adams would have a miserable four years as president! Interesting facts about John Q. Adams: Adams was the first sitting President to have his photograph taken. You can look it up on-line and use it to scare young children. Look at it on-line, you will see what I mean. He was the first sitting president to grant an interview to a female reporter named Anne Royall, not that he wanted to. Anne Royall, sometimes called the mother of modern American journalism, was a crusading character who determined to get an interview with Adams over his thoughts about the Second Bank of the United States. She was turned away from the White House repeatedly by his aides, but she did not give up. She discovered that Adams had the odd habit of marching down to the Potomac early every morning for an invigorating skinny dip. She secretly followed him one day and is rumored to have sat on his clothes refusing to budge until she got her interview. She got it! She was also the editor-publisher of two scandal sheet newspaper in Washington, one was called Paul Pry and the other The Huntress. The Huntress was famous for outing members of the government who frequented certain houses of ill repute. Adams and other presidents tried to shut her down by barring delivery of her papers through the US mail, but the people of Washington simply walked to her house and bought it off her doorstep. She published The Huntress until a few weeks before her death. She also got an interview with every other president during her lifetime. By the way Lyndon Johnson (Texas) and John F. Kennedy (Massachusetts) were also notable presidential skinny dippers.

Barbary Pirates

The Barbary pirates of North Africa all but closed the Mediterranean to American trade, seizing our ships and cargos at will, kidnapping the crews, and then just to add insult to injury, enslaving them and demanding ransom for their return. They were based in present day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripoli (Libya). Jefferson decided to use our new navy (which had been built thanks to Adams) to subdue the Barbary Pirates, who were still seizing our ships, demanding bribes, and ransoming our crews. He first sent a naval squadron against the Tripolitan pirates from 1801-1805. The Bey (King) of Tripoli had become so brazen as to declare war against the United States before Jefferson sent our infant navy against him. The Adams administration had been paying a $1 million dollar bribe, which cost about 10% of the government's annual revenue to appease the pirates; a cost Jefferson had no intention of paying. The small American fleet blockaded Tripoli (name of the major port and country) from 1802-1803 until the pirates captured the USS Philadelphia after it ran aground. Early in 1804 a bold raid led by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur managed to board and burn the Philadelphia to keep the pirates from using it against us. A ground force of 8 marines and 500 paid mercenaries moved out of Egypt in 1805 and captured Derna (another port in Tripoli) forcing the Bey of Tripoli to sign a treaty in which prisoners were exchanged and hostilities ceased. The United States did pay $30,000 for the return of the Philadelphia's crew and Tripoli ceased attacking American merchant ships. After victory over Tripoli our navy remained on station off of North Africa taking on one pirate state after another. Jefferson would be out of office before the last of the Barbary Pirate states finally surrendered in 1815 but he had at least started the ball rolling.

Corrupt Bargain

The Era of Good Feelings came crashing down in 1824 when four Republican candidates (5 to start with) ran against each other for the presidency. Why would five candidates from the same party run against each other in a hotly contested election? Sectional differences over the tariff, slavery, and internal improvements finally came home to roost. The candidates were as follows: William Crawford (Monroe's Sec of Treasury - Caucus pick - the "official" party candidate) John Quincy Adams (Sec of State) representing New England as a favorite son Henry Clay (Speaker of the House) representing the West as a favorite son Andrew Jackson (Common Man) representing parts of the South and West John C. Calhoun (a States-Rights Advocate) representing mostly South Carolina with limited support from other southern states. Crawford who represented the eastern establishment was the "official party candidate" as he was selected by the party caucus (only 66 of 216 congressmen selected him). This is how all prior presidential candidates since Washington's first election had been chosen. Most Americans had fallen into disfavor with a party's congressional members choosing their candidates for them. That is why only 66 members showed up to form the party caucus in 1824. Technically he was still the official candidate based on how he was selected. The others ran as favorite sons in opposition to the caucus system or as regional candidates in favor of differing policies based on the areas they represented. After the votes were counted Jackson led by over 45,000 popular votes and captured 99 electoral votes, alas he needed 131 electoral votes to win outright. Adams was second and Crawford was third (they along with Clay had kept Jackson from receiving an electoral majority). John C. Calhoun had little political support outside of his home state (South Carolina) and had dropped out of the race before the voting commenced. He was a sly politician however and made deals with all of the other candidates to let him run as their vice president as the price for dropping out, thereby freeing up electoral votes that might have gone to him for the other four. The election would have to be decided in the House of Representatives by special vote, each state having one vote. The Constitution provides for the three front runners names to be entered in the House balloting, knocking out Clay (Speaker of the House). Clay, from Tennessee, saw Andrew Jackson as a regional political rival and was in a powerful position to block his election, and that is exactly what he did. Crawford suffered a stroke, removing him from serious consideration, and Clay threw his support to Adams on the first ballot giving him the election. Adams then "rewarded" Clay by naming him his Secretary of State and Jackson's followers yelled "Corrupt Bargain" for the next four years.

XYZ Affair

The French, who viewed the Jay Treaty as a sellout to the British, refused to accept Adam's minister to France and issued a Decree that the French navy would retaliate by seizing American ships on the high seas. They did so with great regularity, especially in the Caribbean, forcing Adams to seek a diplomatic solution by sending Charles Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry to try and make a deal with Charles Talleyrand, Napoleon's Foreign Minister. The French refused to meet the Americans in any official capacity but Talleyrand sent three go-betweens forever known as (X, Y, & Z) seeking bribes that might lead to further negotiations.

Missouri Compromise

The Panic of 1819 swept over the country during the same year that one of the new states from west of the Appalachians petitioned for statehood as a slave state. In 1819 Missouri petitioned Congress to become the 23rd state in the Union. The problem was that the country had reached political equilibrium between slave and free states prior to Missouri's petition for statehood, there were exactly eleven of each in 1819 (11 slave v 11 free). Southern representatives argued that there was no political balance in the House because the South was already outvoted on the floor based on proportional representation. More people lived in the free states than slave states giving rise to a southern argument that bringing Missouri in as a slave state would help redress this imbalance. Northern representatives counter argued that Missouri would be the first state carved out of the Louisiana Purchase and that letting it enter as a slave state might set an example for all other states entering from Louisiana Purchase territory. A daunting prospect considering that 14 eventual states were carved out of Purchase Territory! Both sides dug their heels in, the political future (free or slave) of the Union was at stake. All hell broke loose on the floor as each side maneuvered to control the fate of Missouri. A northern representative from New York named James Tallmadge opened the fireworks with the proposed Tallmadge Amendment to the Missouri petition for statehood. His amendment gave the south and Missouri what they wanted but then took it away over time, it worked like this: 1. Missouri would be allowed to enter as a slave state. 2. No new slaves would be allowed into Missouri after statehood was granted. 3. The children of the current slaves in Missouri would be freed on their 25th birthday. It passed in the House but failed in the Senate where the south still had an equal vote. After the failure of the Tallmadge Amendment tempers flared and a lot of things were said on both sides in both houses that would later be regretted. Things were so heated that no decision was made on the petition in 1819! Then out of the blue Maine petitioned to become a free state in 1820. Maine had been under the nominal control of Massachusetts since 1629 and had finally decided it was time to break free. Maine's petition broke the deadlock and several bills which had already been suggested during the controversy were bundled together as the Missouri Compromise of 1820. 1. Missouri would enter as a slave state with no conditions. 2. Maine entered as a free state maintaining the balance of power in congress. 3. The 36/30 line would become the dividing line between future slave/free states in the Louisiana Purchase. The Missouri Compromise (36/30) Line of 1820 would become the flash point over slavery up until the outbreak of the Civil War, not the MasonDixon Line! Every time a new state from the Louisiana Purchase attempted to organize after 1820, the can of worms was reopened, and a further wedge was driven between those who pushed for freedom and those who pushed for slavery. Slavery became the bull in the china closet that no one wanted to discuss. In the meantime, many southern politicians dreamed of expanding slavery north of the compromise line while most northern representatives viewed it as a solemn pledge never to be broken. Unfortunately, in the 1850's it could no longer be avoided when Kansas and Nebraska came knocking on the door and the nation started falling apart.

Peace of Paris

The Peace of Paris (09/03/1783) ended the conflict under terms that were generous to the 'United States': 1. We were free and independent of British rule! 2. We got all land west to the Mississippi River, north to the Canadian border, and south to the Gulf of Mexico. 3. America was to compensate loyalists for their losses. 4. America was to retain fishing rights in Newfoundland. 5. England retained its right to hold forts in the Ohio country which it would abandon to America in "a reasonable amount of time".

Camden

The Second Continental Congress did not think that Washington could control two separate theaters of operation at the same time and appointed Horatio Gates, the hero of Saratoga, to take command in the South while Washington kept an eye on Clinton in New York. "Granny" Gates rushed his outnumbered and unprepared militia troops against Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden South Carolina on 08/16/1780. The battle, if you could call it that, was over in 15 minutes with Gates leading the retreat by riding several horses near death in a 200-mile mad dash back to Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Bladensburg

The Secretary of War, John Armstrong, had done little to prepare Washington's defenses thinking the British would not dare make such a bold move. The Americans led by General Winder were routed in less than 15 minutes and fell back upon Washington in what came to be known as the Bladensburg Races.

Treaty of Ghent

The Treaty of Ghent (12/24/1814), which ended the War of 1812 had been signed in Belgium over two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans took place. The treaty basically retuned everything to the status quo as it had been before the war except that Britain finally abandoned the Ohio country for good. 1. All territory captured to revert to prior owner. 2. Prisoners were to be exchanged. 3. Captured slaves were to be returned or paid for by England. 4. All captured ships were to be returned.

Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan, written primarily by Madison but introduced by Edmond Randolph called for sweeping changes to the structure and power of the existing federal government. These included: 1. A proportional bicameral legislature where all votes counted. 2. Members of the upper house to be elected by the lower house which was to be elected by the people of their states. 3. An independent executive with broadly defined powers (including a veto over Congress). 4. An independent judiciary with power to resolve state issues. 5. The power to levy taxes and regulate commerce. Oddly, the plan initially called for the new legislature to appoint the executive rather than having him elected as it was feared the people might elect the wrong type of leader for the country. The word most often associated with the Virginian Plan was national, national, national government over the existing weak federal system.

Webster-Hayne Debates

The nullification issue began to come to a head in 1830 during the Webster-Hayne debates. Webster ended his rebuttal of Hayne's (Calhoun's) pro-nullification speech with the words "Liberty and Union now and forever" after tearing apart his assumption that the states should be at least as powerful as the national government because the Constitution was a compact between the states. Did not the preamble of the Constitution read "We the People", not we the states, or had Hayne forgotten that fact? Webster's speech gained national acclaim and Calhoun was eventually forced to resign only to return to South Carolina. He returned to South Carolina only to as a Senator to replace Hayne who had resigned his seat in the wake of the Webster-Hayne Debates. Calhoun then attempted to nullify the Tariff of 1828 and the Tariff of 1832, a compromise tariff which had lowered the rates of the 1828 Tariff of Abominations.

Martin Van Buren

The only official cabinet member of any real standing in Jackson's first administration was his first Secretary of State Martin Van Buren. He was grooming Van Buren to follow him in office. He became Jackson's Vice President during his second term and then followed Jackson as the next President of the United States.

Stephen Decatur

The small American fleet blockaded Tripoli (name of the major port and country) from 1802-1803 until the pirates captured the USS Philadelphia after it ran aground. Early in 1804 a bold raid led by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur managed to board and burn the Philadelphia to keep the pirates from using it against us.

Worcester v. Georgia

They had one of the American missionaries who had been fined, arrested, and thrown in jail by the name of Samuel Worcester initiate the suit in their behalf. Worcester was also the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix. In 1832 the suit reached the Supreme Court as Worcester verses Georgia in which Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in the Cherokees favor and stated that Georgia had no authority over Cherokee land. Basically Marshall ruled that the Indians were "a domestic dependent nation" of the federal government, and that states like Georgia had no right to pass laws over them; only valid federal treaties signed by the federal government held any validity over their destiny. The Cherokees had numerous prior federal treaties promising the sanctity of their land in Georgia. Both President Jackson and Georgia ignored the court's decision and continued pressuring the Cherokees to abandon their land.

Hannah's Cowpens

Thirteen weeks after the Battle of King's Mountain Daniel Morgan's force moved boldly into South Carolina only to find that Cornwallis had dispatched 1,300 cavalry and mounted infantry under Banastre Tarleton to run him down. Outpaced by Tarleton, Morgan picked his ground carefully at a spot called Hannah's Cowpens. On 01/17/1781 he put his plan in action and placed his militia out front as bait for a well laid trap. Tarleton's forces easily pushed them back and then lost their formation in headlong pursuit which placed them right in front of Morgan's sharpshooters and Continentals. A volley tore into the oncoming redcoats followed up by a Von Steuben inspired bayonet charge. Panic took hold and Tarleton found himself in headlong retreat having lost over 900 to Morgan's 12! Only 15 of "Tarleton's Legion" escaped the trap to report the loss to Cornwallis.

Horatio Gates

This allowed local militia units under the overall command of Horatio Gates to block his forward progress in several battles at Freeman's Farm, Bemis Heights, and Saratoga. He surrendered what was left of his army at Saratoga on 10/17/1777, a surrender which brought French recognition and assistance on 02/06/1778! We were no longer fighting alone. The Second Continental Congress did not think that Washington could control two separate theaters of operation at the same time and appointed Horatio Gates, the hero of Saratoga, to take command in the South while Washington kept an eye on Clinton in New York. "Granny" Gates rushed his outnumbered and unprepared militia troops against Cornwallis at the Battle of Camden South Carolina on 08/16/1780. The battle, if you could call it that, was over in 15 minutes with Gates leading the retreat by riding several horses near death in a 200-mile mad dash back to Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage had orders to enforce the Coercive Acts in Massachusetts without commencing hostilities. Knowing 'rebels' were storing arms as close as Concord, about 20 miles away, and that the "Provisional Government" of Massachusetts was in session at Lexington, he decided to strike first by seizing the government officials at Lexington and then marching on to Concord to destroy the arms being stored there. Gage made his move by "secretly" marching 900 crack troops out of Boston in the dead of night.

Prophetstown

Town founded by Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet. It is located at the where the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers.

Leopard-Chesapeake Affair

U.S.-British naval confrontation off Virginia coast in 1807 in which the British forcibly removed suspected deserters from an American ship and impressed them into the British Navy. This led to Jefferson's Embargo.

Brandywine

Washington beat Howe's army to their objective and tried to stop him at Brandywine Creek on 09/11/1777. It was a disaster. Howe used a flanking maneuver, similar to the ones he had used in the New York campaign earlier, forcing Washington to abandon his defensive line and retreat. Howe captured Philadelphia.

Embargo 1794

Washington called for a temporary trade Embargo in 1794 as a form of protest while seeking a more diplomatic solution. Under the Embargo of 1794 American ships were ordered not to sail into 'dangerous' waters. Our trade in shambles, Washington sent John Jay to London to try and negotiate a treaty, end the seizure of our merchant vessels, and to stop the practice of kidnapping merchant seamen.

Monmouth Court House

Washington pursued the British army as they abandoned Philadelphia in an attempt to try out Von Steuben's training and tactics. He caught up with the British at Monmouth Court House in New Jersey on 06/28/1778 on a hot and humid day and fought them to a technical draw. This time The Americans held the ground and the British continued their withdrawal back to New York, slipping away after dark.

Trenton

Washington's desperate troops crossed the Delaware into New Jersey on 12/26/1776 for "victory or death' against the Hessians at Trenton, Washington himself having reported to Congress that "necessity, dire necessity, will, nay must, justify my attack". Two men froze to death before they reached their objective, then the Americans attacked the unsuspecting Hessians with a fury which left 900 Hessians dead, captured, or wounded to Washington's 4 casualties (yes, I said 4 casualties)!

Scioto Company

When sales lagged, companies like the Scioto Company, which were run by inside traders like William Duer (a member of congress) and Arthur St. Clair (President of Congress), offered to buy millions of acres at highly discounted rates (10 cents or less on the dollar). They then planned to further subdivide each section into quarter (160 acres) all the way down to 16 individual 40-acre plots and sell the reduced amounts of land for $1.25 an acre. The Scioto Company had no more luck than the government selling off land to Americans at that price and eventually scammed hundreds of French citizens into buying land where the company prospectus declared that "frost was almost unknown even in winter" and where "trees spontaneously produced sugar and candles"; all of this describing land the company owned in Ohio! The company also declared that there were "no lions, tigers, or bears" to contend with either! The company went bankrupt in 1790 and land sales did not pick up until after our economy started to recover under the Constitution.

South Carolina Exposition

Worse yet it appeared (and it turned out to be a fact) that Calhoun had secretly and anonymously written an impassioned pamphlet called The South Carolina Exposition which glorified the principle of nullification while he was campaigning for the Vice Presidency with Jackson in 1828.

John Ross

constant pressure by the state's legislature, the Cherokees tried to fend off removal by assimilating into the surrounding plantation culture of South Carolina and Georgia. Led by Chief John Ross the Cherokee adopted a written constitution in 1827 (modeled on the US Constitution) and led by Sequoia, who created an alphabet for the tribe, published the Cherokee Phoenix. Many, including John Ross, became slave owners with sizeable plantations.

Valley Forge

forced Washington's men back from Germantown into another headlong retreat towards Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where they again went into winter camp. Washington's most telling comment, "you might have tracked the army to Valley Forge by the blood on their feet"! While Washington's men readied themselves for another winter of hunger, cold, disease (including a smallpox epidemic) and near starvation at Valley Forge, events to the north began to turn the tide in America's favor. At Valley Forge a half-pay Prussian captain who called himself Baron von Steuben volunteered to train Washington's emaciated forces in the art of war including close order drill and bayonet fighting. In doing so he wrote a manual of arms which is still used by the armed forces today (Blue Book) and instilled an esprit de corps and killer attitude in the troops. Washington's army marched out of Valley Forge with confidence due to Von Steuben's training.

Anne Royall

grant an interview to a female reporter named Anne Royall, not that he wanted to. Anne Royall, sometimes called the mother of modern American journalism, was a crusading character who determined to get an interview with Adams over his thoughts about the Second Bank of the United States. She was turned away from the White House repeatedly by his aides, but she did not give up. She discovered that Adams had the odd habit of marching down to the Potomac early every morning for an invigorating skinny dip. She secretly followed him one day and is rumored to have sat on his clothes refusing to budge until she got her interview. She got it! She was also the editor-publisher of two scandal sheet newspaper in Washington, one was called Paul Pry and the other The Huntress. The Huntress was famous for outing members of the government who frequented certain houses of ill repute. Adams and other presidents tried to shut her down by barring delivery of her papers through the US mail, but the people of Washington simply walked to her house and bought it off her doorstep. She published The Huntress until a few weeks before her death. She also got an interview with every other president during her lifetime.

Fort Mandan

name of the encampment which the Lewis and Clark Expedition built for wintering over in 1804-1805

Laulewasia

rophet, brother of Tecumseh, would be considered the black sheep of the family today. His real name was Laulewasika, and although married with children, he was a terrible provider for his family. He had somehow managed to shoot out one of his eyes while hunting with a bow and arrow which impacted his depth perception and made him an even less successful hunter. He drank often and became quite abusive when he was drunk. He probably drank because he was mocked as basically worthless by many members of his tribe. His brother constantly provided for his family to keep them from starving, further lowering his self-esteem. One day after a heavy drinking binge he literally passed out and fell into the small fire he was sitting next to in his hut. His wife pulled him out of the fire but could not seem to revive him and called in a medicine man to check out his physical condition. The medicine man could not find a pulse and declared him dead. A funeral was quickly arranged, Indians feared spirits of the dead, and in the midst of the funeral proceedings Laulewasika sat up and announced he had visited the Maker of Life (he had talked to God)! He told of a vision straight out of Dante's Inferno and warned the tribe that unless they returned to their traditional dress and ways, stopped drinking the white man's poison, and stopped selling land to them as well, they were basically a doomed race. This is when he became the Prophet or "Open Door". Tecumseh saw that he could use his brother's visions to help unite the tribes of the Ohio valley into a military confederation and constructed Prophetstown to help bring in new recruits.